Abbaye de Franquevaux

Beauvoisin (Franquevaux)

In 1141, an abbot named Galthérius and his small community of Cistercian monks knocked at the door of the castrum of Belvezet, in search of a place to found their monastery. After exploring the lagoons and reed beds of this Gard Camargue, the abbot settled on a site far from everything. In 1143, the lord Pons-Guillaume gave them land on the shore of the Scamandre lagoon, and the bishop of Nîmes sealed the foundation. A daughter house of Bonnevaux, the abbey prospered for centuries amid the marshes it patiently drained, before meeting the fate common to Church property at the Revolution. Sold off, part of its stones went to build a hamlet that today shelters a hundred or so inhabitants, born in a sense from the very ruins of the abbey. The main body of the abbot's lodging, for its part, was saved and restored: it now welcomes visitors to a former monastic dwelling where, between the walls, one can still sense the studious silence of the monks of old.

Getting there : In the Petite Camargue, about 8 km from Aigues-Mortes, hamlet of Franquevaux, part of the commune of Beauvoisin (Gard)

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound